Orlando Celebrates Its Biggest Tradeshow Yet

CVB, OCCC lead effort to ensure that everything goes according to plan

By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 1/24/2005

For Orlando this month, the heat was on. As the Orange County Convention Center hosted its largest tradeshow crowd ever, during the busiest convention month ever, the pressure was intense to prove that the city's infrastructure was up to handling the hundreds of thousands of visitors the events would draw.

And after 10 months of preparation, the central Florida destination was apparently passing the test. "It's been a pretty massive community undertaking. So far, I have a very happy client," said Bill Peeper, president of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Produced by the 215,000-member Natl. Assn. of Home Builders, THE INTL. BUILDERS' SHOW, held at the OCCC Jan. 13–16, was slated to draw up to 110,000 people.

After visiting Las Vegas, where the show was held in 2004, members of a local delegation realized that transportation would be one of their biggest challenges.

"We knew we had our work cut out for us. The logistics are unbelievable," said Kathie Canning, OCCC deputy general manager "What the home builders said to us is, 'We're all coming at the same time and we've got places to be and to get to. You need to be prepared to handle 100,000 people at the same time."

OCCC devised a traffic-management plan with the cooperation of Orange County, the city of Orlando, the state Department of Transportation and the Florida Turnpike Enterprise. A key aspect of the plan was advising locals to stay away from the Intl. Drive area, where the convention center is located.

An automated traffic-signal management system around the venue was expanded. Two weeks before the event, during which 180 shuttle buses were put in operation, message boards went up advising residents of detours. Law enforcement officers were assigned to keep traffic flowing between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. And taxi-rate information was circulated with show materials to make sure attendees didn't end up paying exorbitant fares.

At Orlando Intl. Airport, everyone from airport and airline personnel to the Transportation Security Administration was alerted to the increased volumes. "The entire city is excited about having the builders show here," said airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell.

Ignacio Cabrera, staff vice president of the home builders association's exposition group, said he made numerous trips to Orlando to help plan for the show, which ranked No. 15 on the latest Tradeshow Week 200. "The Orange County Convention Center, from the general manager on down, has been incredible," said Cabrera. "They have gone out of their way to make sure there is plenty of transportation."

The show was the first to occupy both the existing West Building and part of the new North/South Building. Even so, it didn't have quite enough space since, according to Cabrera, more than 400 exhibitors were left on a waiting list. "When we booked the facility 12 years ago, we did not expect to grow as much as we have grown," he said.

In 2006, the association has contracted for all the space in both buildings. The West Building provides 1.2 million square feet of exhibit space, and the North/South Building an additional 950,000 sq. ft.

The show's rotation pattern will take it to Atlanta for '07 and '08, Las Vegas in '09 and '10 and back to Orlando again in '11 and '12. The rotation includes plans for New Orleans in '13 and '14, Orlando in '15 and '16 and Las Vegas in '17 and '18.

Organizers were forecasting an 885,000 net sq. ft. show with more than 1,600 exhibitors this year, up from 803,000 net sq. ft. last year in Las Vegas. This year's show will occupy more than 1.5 million gross sq. ft., according to the association.

Since the OCCC finished its expansion, the CVB has received more interest from larger tradeshows. Mark Nelson, vice president of convention sales and services, said the pre-sell on the expansion began in 1999, and 2000 turned out to be a banner year for bookings.

"We had an opportunity to bring in so many more clients who had previously not come here because their preferred dates were not available," he said.

The OCCC's January calendar of 10 tradeshows demonstrates that the venue can host several events at once. Four other TSW 200 shows are scheduled there this month, including The ASI Show! Orlando, PGA General Merchandise Show, The Super Show and Surf Expo.

"January '05 is the busiest month we've ever had. We have four conventions that comprise more than 200,000 delegates and represent one-quarter billion dollars of revenue," Nelson said.

Lori Kisner, the dmg world media vice president in charge of longtime Orlando show, Surf Expo, said Orlando "had to make a lot of concessions" in order to fit the builders' show into the schedule. "It's the busiest time of year in one of the busiest convention centers in the country," she said.

Surf Expo, which has confirmed dates out to 2020, might have "future date issues" because of the builders' show, said Kisner, who believes Orlando could generate more schedule flexibility if it focused on half-million, rather than million sq. ft. shows.

Peter Haines said Orlando did a good job of handling logistics for The Super Show's return to Orlando in 2004 after 15 years in Atlanta and three years in Las Vegas. "Orlando accommodates the influx of people beautifully," said Haines, a show director for Communications & Show Management, the show's producer. "They have a drop-dead-gorgeous facility, a great airport, and it's a friendly place to do business."

Orlando's family environment makes it tempting for attendees to "bring the wife, the kids, the girlfriend, the boy-friend," said Haines. But that plus can turn into a minus if attendees leave the tradeshow early to enjoy the local attractions.

And while Orlando has an inventory of 112,000 hotel rooms and 15,000 time shares, Haines said hotels and facilities are spread out, making it difficult for organizers to generate a buzz. "It spreads the show out so much that there's no nucleus," he said. "When you put 100,000 people in Atlanta, people are bumping up against each other."

Orlando is currently the third-most-popular destination for the largest U.S. shows, according to TSW research. The city in 2003 hosted 17 TSW 200 shows spanning more than 5.2 million net sq. ft. That compares with Las Vegas, which hosted 38 TSW 200 shows occupying nearly 17 million net sq. ft.; and Chicago, which was the site of 27 TSW 200 shows spanning 8.8 million net sq. ft.

But none in Orlando has commanded as large a crowd as the builders' show. "Clearly it's a chance to demonstrate our ability to handle a show of this size. The community is very aware of the size of the show and the positive implications of doing a show of this size," Nelson said.